Lanyon United Masters Div 3 Football Premiers 2009 (We Are The Champions) September 15, 2009

On Sunday mornings, I play for the mighty Lanyon United Football Club, in the Canberra Masters Division 3 competition. You need to be over 35 to compete, meaning it’s a league specifically for those who are highly skilled, have years of previous experience but not handicapped with youthful exuberance 🙂

In the previous 2 years, we managed to get to the final series but lost out in the semi-finals. This year we managed to get to the Grand Final where we met our local rivals, the Brindabella Blues.

This was the first Grand Final I’ve ever played in so I was pretty excited, managing only a couple of hours of sleep the night before. I’ve been struggling with injuries for much of the season but a few sore leg muscles weren’t going to stop me from giving it my all. It was a perfect Canberra Spring morning and I just had a good feeling about the day. There was a decent crowd on hand to support us oldies in action when the whistle blew to start the game.

The first half was a pretty close affair with perhaps Brindabella having the better run of play. Within a few minutes of starting, my left calf was feeling pretty tight and sore and I had their speedster on the left wing to contend with (note that “speed” is a relative word in Masters Div 3). It was with some relief when half-time arrived with the game still tied at 0-0. The second half was equally close although we started to gain more control and have the better of the chances. With about 20 minutes to go, I just couldn’t get the final touch on a ball that slipped through the penalty box.

Then with 15 minutes to go, disaster struck. I was off chasing a ball down the wing when my legs just gave out, first tearing my right hamstring and then with the very next stride, tearing my left calf. Ouch !! Down I went like a sack of lumpy potatoes and off I slowly hobbled with the support of a few teammates. My contribution was over but with the game still locked at 0-0, the game was far from over.

Watching helpless from the sidelines, in a lot of pain wasn’t easy. We had a number of good chances to win late in the game but full-time arrived with still no score. So 10 minutes of extra-time each way it was with then. 5 minutes into the first period and the dead lock was finally broken when a break on the right resulted in a nice cross for Robin, our ever reliable striker, to brilliantly put the ball into the back of the net.

Wooohooo !! We were up 1-0. I was so excited that I forgot I was injured and hurt my legs some more as I jumped up off the chair. Time appeared to just drag for the rest of the game but our superb defence was just impenetrable and we managed to hold on for victory.

Lanyon United 1 Brindabella Blues 0. We had won the game and were Premiers for season 2009 !!

It was such a great feeling, all the hard work and pain was worth it. And a beer had never tasted so good.

Thanks to all the guys and all our supporters for making it such a fun and rewarding year. I’m already looking forward to defending our title next season.

I visited the physio the next day who was really impressed that I managed to injure 2 different muscles in both legs simultaneously. I should thankfully be OK for my upcoming trips to England and then Oracle OpenWorld in the coming weeks.

Back to Oracle indexes and the CPU based CBO in the next couple of days …